Experienced, hands-on support when
you need more than advice
One thing 25 years in finance has taught me is that a business is strengthened when the person responsible for the finance understands the wider business around it.
All parts of a business connect, and finance often sees the effect of what happens elsewhere.
Understanding those connections in a practical, lived way means finance can contribute throughout the full customer journey, from order through to cash in the bank, rather than only managing or reporting on what's already happened.
That wider view is something I bring to the finance work I do.
What that can involve
It might include:
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Day-to-day senior finance support - temporary Finance Manager or Financial Controller-level involvement
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Cashflow, debt and controls - improving collection, cash visibility and financial controls
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Backlogs and historical issues - clearing unresolved or long-standing financial problems
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Rebuilding financial information - including from incomplete or unreliable records
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Management information - monthly accounts, budgets, forecasts and KPIs
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Finance processes and systems - setting up or improving day-to-day workflow
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Finance function development - bringing outsourced finance in-house or strengthening an existing function
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Audits, inspections and investigations - preparing detailed information and supporting evidence
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Due diligence - gathering and presenting financial information for mergers or acquisitions
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Finance projects - full start-to-finish responsibility for defined work
The exact level of support depends on what’s needed.
I’m not too senior to get into the ledger, but I’m not limited to the ledger either.
How I work
I work practically and pragmatically, depending on what the situation needs.
If something simply needs doing, I’m happy to get on and do it. If it needs a bit more thought first, I’ll take the time to understand the detail, speak to the people involved and work out the most sensible way forward.
I can investigate, analyse and recommend, but I can also implement, manage and carry the work through.
That matters because there are plenty of situations where a business doesn’t need arm’s length advice, another report or another set of recommendations. It needs someone experienced who can take responsibility and move the work forward.
“Ruth has the ability to understand complex financial problems. She quickly identified areas where we desperately needed to change and fully resolved historical financial challenges.”
(Howard Fearn, MD, Avian Ecology Ltd)
Why the wider business matters
Although finance is my longest-standing area of experience, my background across operations, business analysis, process improvement, projects and change helps me understand what sits behind the numbers.
That broader background is useful because finance doesn’t operate in isolation.
The quality of the numbers can depend on how information moves between teams. Reporting can be affected by processes, systems, responsibilities or handoffs across departments. A finance team may be working around an issue that sits elsewhere.
So while the work may sit firmly within finance, I always look beyond the finance function where that helps me understand what’s needed.
Next steps
If you need experienced hands-on finance support, whether that's additional capacity, temporary cover, a defined piece of work or broader Finance Manager / Financial Controller-level involvement, get in touch and we can talk through what would be useful.